The present disclosure relates generally to apparatuses for cleaning aquarium walls. In particular, magnetic rotating cleaning apparatuses for cleaning aquarium walls are described.
Known aquarium cleaning devices are not entirely satisfactory for the range of applications in which they are employed. For example, existing magnetic cleaning devices include two magnetically paired structures with inner and outer surface cleaning pads in surface-to-surface contact with the inner and outer surfaces of an aquarium wall, respectively. The outer magnetic pair is moved by hand over the outer surface of the aquarium wall. Concurrently, the inner magnetic pair is slid over the inner surface of the aquarium wall. The back and forth hand powered movement described above, however, is insufficient for thorough cleaning of the inner surface wall, which often accumulates a sticky and/or thick layer of organic matter and other debris during normal usage. In addition, conventional magnetic cleaning devices lack an internal arrangement of magnetic elements that allows for vigorous movement of the magnetically paired structures.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,109 to Rofen (hereinafter referred to as “Rofen”) is directed to a magnetically paired cleaning device for an aquarium wall. Rofen describes that magnetic pairs are easily disengaged and therefore a floatation device attached to the inner magnetic pair enables retrieval when magnetic pairing is disrupted. Evidently, vigorous and/or rapid movement of magnetically paired cleaning devices sufficient for cleaning of an inner surface of an aquarium wall is problematic. The complete disclosure of the above patent is herein incorporated by reference for all purposes.
Thus, there exists a need for apparatuses for cleaning an aquarium wall that improve upon and advance the design of known devices and methods. Examples of new and useful apparatuses for cleaning an aquarium wall relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.